Swampyville's - "The Banana Wars"

Swampyville's Ask the Politically Correct!
(A History of how we got to where we are today - each
individual should make their own judgement(s))

Question:

What were the Banana Wars?

Politically Correct Resolution:

(Most of this article from Wikipedia)

The Banana Wars were a series of occupations, police actions,
and interventions involving the United States in Central
America and the Caribbean. This period started with the
Spanish-American War in 1898 and the subsequent Treaty
of Paris, which gave the United States control of Cuba and
Puerto Rico (in addition, the Philippines and Guam). Between
the war with Spain and 1934 the United States conducted military
operations and occupations in Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico,
Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. The series of conflicts ended
with the withdrawal of troops from Haiti.

Reasons for these conflicts were varied but were largely economic
in nature. The term "Banana Wars" arises from the connections between
these interventions and the preservation of American commercial interests
in the region. Most prominently, the United Fruit Company had significant
financial stakes in production of bananas, tobacco, sugar cane, and various
other products throughout the Caribbean, Central America and Northern South
America. The United States was also advancing its political interests,
maintaining a sphere of influence and controlling the Panama Canal,
(critically important to global trade and naval power).

United States influences and occupations:

Cuba and Puerto Rico, with the United States interventing in Cuba and
the invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898.

Panama, United States interventions in the isthmus go back to the 1846
Mallarino-Bidlack Treaty and intensified after the so-called Watermelon War
of 1856. In 1903, Panama seceded from the Republic of Colombia, backed by
the US government, amidst the Thousand Days War. The Panama Canal (Theodore
Roosevelt was the driving force behind the construction of this canal) was
under construction by then, and the Panama Canal Zone, under United States
sovereignty, was then created (it was handed down to Panama as of 2000 by
order of Jimmy Carter "a Progressive Socialist" when he was President).
China immediately became the major influence of the Panama Canal.

Nicaragua, which, after intermittent landings and naval bombardments
in the previous decades, was occupied by the U.S. almost continuously from
1912 through 1933.

Cuba, occupied by the U.S. from 1898 to 1902 under a military governor
and again from 1906–1909, 1912 and 1917–1922; governed by the
terms of the Platt Amendment through 1934.

Haiti, occupied by the U.S. from 1915 through 1934, which led to the
creation of a new Haitian constitution in 1917 that instituted changes that
included an end to the prior ban on land ownership by non-Haitians.

Dominican Republic, action in 1903, 1904, and 1914; occupied by the U.S.
from 1916 through 1924.

Honduras, where the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company (Today,
Chiquita Brand International) dominated the country's key banana export sector
and associated land holdings and railways, saw insertion of American troops in
1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and Writer O. Henry coined the term "Banana
republic" in 1904 to describe Honduras.

Mexico, The United State's military involvements with Mexico in this
period are related to the same general commercial and political causes, but
stand as a special case. The Americans conducted the Border War with Mexico
from 1910 through 1918 for additional reasons: to control the flow of immigrants
and refugees from revolutionary Mexico, and to counter rebel raids
into U.S. territory. The 1914 U.S. occupation of Veracruz, however, was an
exercise of armed influence, not an issue of border integrity. In the years
prior to World War I, the United States was also alert to the regional balance
of power against Germany. The Germans were actively arming and advising the
Mexicans.

Other Latin American nations were influenced or dominated by American economic
policies and/or commercial interests to the point of coercion. Theodore Roosevelt
declared the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904, asserting the
right of the United States to intervene to stabilize the economic affairs of
states in the Caribbean and Central America if they were unable to pay their
international debts. From 1909 to 1913, President William Howard Taft and his
Secretary of State Philander C. Knox asserted a more "peaceful and economic"
Dollar Diplomacy foreign policy, although that too was backed by force, as in
Nicaragua.

American military interventions!

These military interventions were most often carried out by the United States
Marine Corps. The Marines were called in so often that they developed a Small
Wars Manual, The Strategy and Tactics of Small Wars in 1921. On occasion, U.S.
Naval gunfire and U.S. Army troops were also used.

Perhaps the single most active military officer in the Banana Wars was U.S.
Marine Corps Major General, Smedley Butler, who saw action in Honduras in 1903,
served in Nicaragua enforcing American policy from 1909 to 1912, was awarded
the Medal of Honor for his role in Veracruz in 1914, and a second Medal of
Honor for bravery while "crushing the Caco resistance" in Haiti in 1915.
In 1935, Butler wrote in his famous book "War Is a Racket":

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during

that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big
Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer,
a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico
safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a
decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I
helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the
benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International
Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the
Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped
make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China
in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.
Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he
could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on
three continents". (Using Patriotism for Profits)

Whether or not this nation retains it's sovereignty or
becomes a satellite of the new "One" world order should
be left to the people to decide and not to the "Paid For"
politicians!